After nine lifetimes of reincarnation, the yandere villainous heroine descends.

Tantai Chigu's voice fell into the black mist, like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, instantly causing the entire gloomy area to twist violently.

Su Jue Luo, deep within the black mist, clearly hadn't expected that the other party would actually follow his lead and say such a thing.

After a brief silence, that chilling laughter pierced through the thick fog once more, tinged with mockery: "Heh... Of course, if you die, I'll let him go. But are you truly willing to vanish into nothingness like this?"

Tantai Chigu's aura suddenly froze, not because she doubted her own strength.

Instead, a ridiculous realization suddenly dawned on him: perhaps, as Su Jue Luo said, he should never have existed in this world.

She looked up at the mist-shrouded void. Although the formation had isolated heaven and earth, she could still clearly sense a vast forbidden power flowing slowly along the meridians of heaven and earth.

That power carried a familiar throbbing, resonating subtly with the forbidden within her, as if she and this power were twin flowers born from the same root.

Just like her relationship with Shen Shuchou, it was a bond.

"Don't trust her, Tantai Chigu!"

A voice, as sharp as tearing silk, pierced through the surging black mist with a howling sound.

Upon hearing the sound, Tantai Chigu turned his head and saw that Gu Qingran's black clothes were soaked in blood, turning almost dark red.

He was locked in a fierce battle with the afterimages conjured by the black mist. Every swing of his sword brought up a shower of blood droplets, yet he stubbornly refused to retreat even half a step.

On the other side, Gu Jian was also in grave danger. Although he was not as disheveled as Gu Qingran, he was completely entangled by afterimages and had little chance of escaping.

Hearing Gu Qingran's shouts, Tantai Chi's eyes remained calm and he remained silent, as if he hadn't heard them.

"Master is struggling in excruciating pain, his soul is being torn apart!"

Seeing that she didn't move, Gu Qingran's voice trembled with anxiety. As her sword energy cleaved through an afterimage, she still stared intently at her.

"Do you really think that dying will save him? She's lying to you! If Master were still conscious and could speak, he would never let you go down this path!"

The black mist carried her voice, creating echoes, but Tantai Chigu's figure remained as still as a stone.

Only a few strands of hair at her temples were lifted by the wind and then slowly fell back down, concealing the fleeting wavering in her eyes.

"Fine, Tantai Chigu, I've changed my mind."

In the black mist, Su Jue Luo's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying an almost obsessive quality.

"Even if you die, I will never let him go. This is not what I want."

She knew in her heart that even if Tantai Chi truly went to his death, the forbidden path in this world might be broken, but she was destined never to see such a world again.

Because once the formation collapses, she, as the core and vessel of the formation, will inevitably be torn to shreds by the backlash, her soul scattered.

All she wanted was a different ending.

She wanted to see Tantai Chigu take action himself, and to see the truth before her soul was destroyed.

The black mist surged more and more violently with her thoughts, as if even the air itself was trembling from this mad obsession.

To further provoke Tantai Chigu, Su Jueluo slightly moved his fingertips, and the surging black mist around him seemed to be kneaded by an invisible hand, slowly condensing into a distorted human figure.

The shadowy figure emitted a series of heart-wrenching roars, each sound like a poisoned needle piercing Tantai Chigu's weak spot.

The moment he saw that figure clearly, the last trace of hesitation in Tantai Chigu's eyes shattered, transforming into a boundless evil that burned everything in its path.

"Heh...that's more like it."

Su Jueluo's laughter seeped out from the mist, tinged with a morbid pleasure, "Come on, kill me!"

In response to her, several pitch-black chains shot out from the void.

The chain, bound with forbidden power, was like a chain of judgment hurled by an ancient demon, instantly locking down all of Su Jue Luo's escape routes and fiercely strangling him with the power to shatter mountains and split seas!

Su Jue Luo's eyes flashed with fierce light, and the double-edged sword suddenly hummed in his hand. The black mist around him flowed into the blade like rivers flowing into the sea, transforming into a dark rainbow that stretched across the sky and earth.

This sword strike came from the deepest part of the abyss, carrying with it the wails of countless vengeful souls from the Purple Smoke Cloud Pavilion and the violent power of the entire formation.

Where the pitch-black sword wind passed, rocks crumbled, clouds and mist swirled, and a deafening roar of ghosts and gods echoed throughout the world!

The next instant, the inky black sword and the pitch-black chains collided with a deafening roar!

There was no earth-shattering noise, only deathly silence.

Immediately afterwards, a visible energy shockwave exploded outwards from the point of impact, like countless invisible blades, instantly shredding the black mist within a hundred feet in all directions into dust.

Even the heavens seemed to tremble slightly from this force, and the rubble and lingering mist were annihilated in the shockwave.

Only two figures stood facing each other across the turbulent energy currents, their killing intent clashing as if it were a tangible force.

Su Jueluo raised her eyes and looked at Tantai Chigu not far away. The forbidden power surging around that figure was like the dark night swallowing up the light of the sky, making people's hearts tremble.

But the sickly smile on her lips grew even more intense, even drawing out a trace of blood.

Even with the protective array, the backlash from that exchange still burned through her meridians; she had ultimately underestimated her opponent.

The more Su Jue Luo sensed the abyss-like, hellish power of Tantai Chi Gu, the more intense her anticipation became.

She had even begun to imagine what emotions would surge in those murderous eyes when that time came.

Before the thought had even settled, Tantai Chigu had already taken a step forward.

That step seemed to transcend time and space, so fast that Su Jue Luo's pupils didn't even have time to contract.

The next instant, a fierce gust of wind, carrying a bone-chilling cold, swept in, and a jet-black chain, like a meteorite falling to earth, struck her body precisely.

"puff!"

Blood splattered across the sky, and Su Jue Luo's body, like a kite with a broken string, was slammed down by that immense force, plummeting towards the abyss below where clouds churned.

Su Jue Luo's body was slammed into the already cracked earth. Amidst the flying debris, his bones creaked under the strain, as if they were about to shatter into pieces at any moment.

As she struggled to her feet, her broken bones splintering, the suffocating pressure descended upon her like dark clouds crashing down from the heavens.

She struggled to lift her eyes, only to be met by a pair of purple pupils, where the surging killing intent solidified and lingered against her skin.

"Tantai..."

Su Jue Luo's blood-stained lips still curled into that sickly smile. As soon as he spoke, a fist carrying forbidden power came hurtling through the air.

Before the fist even arrived, the surrounding air was already being crushed and exploded, slamming into her chest the instant it struck.

Su Jue Luo was struck by lightning, her body flying backward like a puppet with broken strings, leaving a trail of blood mist in her wake.

Tantai Chigu's figure followed closely, instantly flashing into the air, his fists and feet falling like a storm.

Each move carried the immense force of shattering mountains and splitting rocks, crashing down on Su Jue Luo.

She tried her best to parry with her sword, but the blade trembled under the opponent's violent power, and cracks spread like a spider web, ultimately unable to stop the attack in the slightest.

In less than half an incense stick's time, her body had been blasted to pieces, with fragments of internal organs mixed with blood gushing from the wounds, a horrifying sight.

However, the power of the formation continued to circulate, and pale blue light patterns quickly grew between the bits of flesh and bone, causing the mutilated body to wriggle and regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As long as the soul remains intact, the physical body can be repeatedly reshaped under the blessing of the array.

Tantai Chigu refused to give him a quick death. She withdrew her fist and coldly watched as the body was pieced together again amidst the light patterns.

Then another heavy palm strike shattered the newly regenerated bones once more.

It breaks, it regenerates, it regenerates, it breaks again.

The repeated tearing and rebuilding are just like Shen Shuchou's soul, tormented by the array, with each reconstruction accompanied by deeper pain.

A cold pleasure surged in her eyes, but little did she know that deep within Su Jue Luo's heart, Shen Shu Chou's soul was being isolated by an invisible barrier.

Like a lone lamp sunk in the deep sea, even she could not see a trace of it.

"Stop!"

Just as Tantai Chigu was unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks, a blood-stained figure staggered over.

Gu Qingran struggled to support her almost broken body, each step leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

She looked at Tantai Chigu, whose body was surging with forbidden power, and then at Su Jueluo, who was blasted to pieces and barely clinging to life, and a chill ran through her heart.

But he still gritted his teeth and spoke, his voice hoarse as if grinding iron: "Find Master's whereabouts first!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the violence in Tantai Chigu's eyes.

She stopped what she was doing, looking down at the mangled body at her feet, now shattered once more. The killing intent surging in her purple eyes hadn't dissipated, and her voice was as cold as ice: "Give him back to me."

Su Jue Luo lay paralyzed in a pool of blood, half of his body unrecognizable, with broken bones protruding from his flesh like several jagged pieces of withered wood.

She seemed oblivious to the pain, tilting her head to the side, her blood-stained hair clinging to her pale cheeks, a strange smile spreading across her lips, saliva mixed with blood dripping down her chin.

"He's here..."

She murmured in a breathy voice, a hissing sound like a broken bellows coming from her throat, and one hand was raised in a spasm.

He scratched wildly at his chest, blood and flesh embedded in his nails. "Look...can you feel it? It's warm...and still beating..."

The hand suddenly clenched tightly, as if it had grasped something invisible, and the knuckles turned white from the force.

"want to?"

She giggled, her laughter hoarse and shrill, like rusty iron scraping against the ground. "Come on... kill me... and you'll get it..."

"What? You're reluctant to take action?"

Su Jue Luo stared at Tantai Chi Gu's tense profile, a twisted smile appearing on the bloodstain at the corner of his mouth.

Do you know how much pain he's in right now?

She suddenly lowered her voice, her hissing breath filled with a venomous pleasure, "He's waiting for you... Kill me, kill me and you can save him..."

Tantai Chi stared intently at her, his gaze as deep and icy as a frozen pool.

Seeing that she didn't move, Su Jueluo used his last bit of strength to prop up his broken upper body, his blood-stained lips almost touching her ear.

"I forgot to tell you... the person you cherish so much, I already took his body away long ago."

She paused, her fingertips lightly tracing the side of Tantai Chigu's neck, as if caressing prey.

"You understand what I mean, right?"

Or perhaps...

She suddenly chuckled, her voice soft and cold: "You're just a heartless taboo, can't you even perceive your own feelings for him?"

These words struck him like a thunderbolt, causing Tantai Chigu's pupils to shrink abruptly, and the forbidden power surging around him to pause for a moment.

Su Jue Luo accurately caught this wavering, and immediately grinned, his bloodied lips parting, his laughter spreading like a broken gong.

A jarring echo reverberated through the desolate landscape, each sound imbued with a morbid satisfaction.

The next second, out of the corner of Gu Qingran's eye, she saw Tantai Chigu slowly bending down and picking up the blood-stained longsword from the ground.

The sword's blade reflected her cold, hard profile in the afterglow. Her movements were as slow as a belated judgment, yet they set off alarm bells in Gu Qingran's heart.

Su Jue Luo's desire to die was already eerie, and now it seemed as if she was leading Tantai Chi Gu into a trap.

"don't want!"

Gu Qingran screamed and rushed forward, but she was too late.

A flash of cold light appeared, and the longsword, like a bolt of lightning, pierced Su Jue Luo's heart meridian with pinpoint accuracy.

Gu Qingran abruptly stopped in her tracks, watching as a glaring flower of blood bloomed on Su Jueluo's chest.

On that blood-covered face, there was no pain, only a triumphant, almost manic smile.

Just then, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupted, piercing the heavens and the earth—the sound of a soul being torn apart.